Operation: Patrol

Date: 12th August 1940

Unit: No. 610 Squadron

Type: Spitfire I

Serial: L1044 (1)

Code: DW-H

Base: RAF Gravesend, Kent

Location: English Channel, off New Romney, Kent

Pilot: P/O. Edward Brian Bretherton Smith DFC RAF Age 25. Injured

REASON FOR LOSS:

Suffering minor burns to his face and neck as he fell into the sea, some eight miles from Romney Marsh.

A Royal Navy trawler picked him up - amazingly the captain was an old school friend of his. Two weeks after this he was awarded the DFC for leadership and courage.

After recovering from his injuries he spent some two years as an instructor before leaving for North Africa as Commander of the Advanced Flying Unt at Setif in Algeria.

In 1944 he went on to command a parachute training school, based in Southern Italy. He left the RAF in February 1946.

(1) Some sources quote serial number as K9818 - this aircraft was lost on the 30th September 1940. (See acknowledgement)The pilot, 21 year old F/O. Charles Harvey Bacon 74324 RAFVR from Windermere, Cumbria, England was killed. (Buried in his home town, Windermere Cemetery - St. Marys)

P/O. Edward Smith DFC sitting on the left (courtesy Daily Telegraph)

Burial Details:

None, P/O. Edward Brian Bretherton Smith DFC survived. Born in Formby, Lancashire, January 12th 1915. He completed his RAF service as Wing Commander and died on September 15th 2013. See Obituary page.

Researched for relatives of the pilot with thanks to the following for further information, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses' Vol. 1, Daily Telegraph. Also with many thanks to Raymond Brown from New Zealand who advised us of the correct Serial number of this Spitfire - June 2016.